Method of degrading moniliformin with ochrobactrum

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a bacterial microorganism Ochrobactrum having the ability, to degrade or detoxify moniliformin or structurally related mycotoxins. The present invention further provides a method for detoxification of grain pre- or post-harvest using Ochrobactrum bacterium having the ability to degrade or detoxify moniliformin or derivatives or analogs of moniliformin and wherein the preferred bacterium is Ochrobactrum anthropi.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional application of co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 08/753,317, filed Nov. 22, 1996.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to the detection and isolation of moniliformin-degrading organisms and to compositions and methods for detoxification or degradation of moniliformin in grain. This method has broad application in crop agriculture and in the improvement of food grain quality and feed safety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fungal diseases are common problems in crop agriculture. Many strides have been made against plant diseases as exemplified by the use of hybrid plants, pesticides and unproved agricultural practices. However, as any grower or home gardener can attest, the problems of fungal plant disease continue to cause difficulties in plant cultivation. Thus, there is a continuing need for new methods and materials for solving the problems caused by fungal diseases of plants. These problems can be met through a variety of approaches. For example, the infectious organisms can be controlled through the use of agents that are selectively biocidal for the pathogens. Another method is interference with the mechanism by which the pathogen invades the host crop plant. Yet another method, in the case of pathogens that cause crop losses, is interference with the mechanism by which the pathogen causes injury to the host crop plant. Still another method, in the case of pathogens that produce toxins that are undesirable to mammals or other animals that feed on the crop plants, is interference with toxin production, storage, or activity.

Within the Fusarium sp. are several important pathogens of corn and other cereals in various countries. In corn, Fusarium is known to cause root, stem and ear rot that results in severe crop reduction. The etiology of Fusarium ear mold is poorly understood, although physical damage to the ear and certain environmental conditions can contribute to its occurrence(Nelson, P. E., 1992, "Taxonomy and Biology of Fusarium moniliforme." Mycopathologia 117: 29-36). Fusarium may be isolated from most field grown maize, when no visible mold is present. The relationship between seedling infection and the stalk and ear diseases caused by Fusarium is not clear. Genetic resistance to visible kernel mold has been identified (Gendloff E, Rossman E, Casale W, Isleib T, Hart P, 1986, "Components of resistance to Fusarium ear rot in field corn." Phytopathology 76: 684-688; Holley RN, Hamilton PB, Goodman MM, 1989, "Evaluation of tropical maize germplasm for resistance to kernel colonization by Fusarium moniliforme." Plant Dis 73: 578-580). The mycotoxins produced by the Fusarium species that infect plants may accumulate in infected plants or in stored grains, presenting serious health consequences for livestock, humans and other consumers of meat or other food products of such livestock. Fusarium infection has been associated with chronic or acute mycotoxicoses in both farm animals and man (Botallico, et al.). An important mycotoxin that has been found to be produced by certain Fusarium sp. and has been identified in Fusarium-infected crops is moniliformin.

Moniliformin is a water-soluble toxin produced by Fusarium species such as Fusarium moniliforme and F. moniliforme var. subglutinans, as well as other species. These Fusarium species are found in virtually all food-grade corn worldwide, and moniliformin-producing isolates have been reported in Europe, South Africa, The United States, New Zealand, Taiwan and South America. It is likely that as more surveys are completed, moniliformin will be found at high levels in certain grain samples from a variety of areas. Moniliformin has been shown to have marked toxic effects toward animals and plants. It selectively inhibits mitochondrial pyruvate and alpha-ketoglutarate oxidations. Grain containing high levels of moniliformin may be restricted in its use or subject to important import/export regulations.

The discovery of bacteria that are able to metabolize moniliformin allows contaminated grain to be detoxified. This invention provides a bacterium that can grow on moniliformin as a sole carbon source. The degradation of moniliformin in the media may be assayed by a thin layer chromatography (TLC) assay. The present invention provides a method to reduce the amount of the mycotoxin in corn by incubation of infected corn with this bacterium or, alternatively, with the moniliformin-metabolization enzyme.

There is a need in the art for novel methods with which moniliformin may be eliminated from a plant or harvested grain. It is considered important by those skilled in the art to continue to develop inventions in order to protect the final consumer of a plant or harvested grain. The present invention provides the reagents and methodologies necessary to ameliorate plants and harvested grains from moniliformin.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, the present invention provides a wild-type organism having the ability to degrade or detoxify moniliformin. The present invention may further include a mutant of the wild-type organism that has the ability to degrade or detoxify moniliformin. The present invention further provides a method for detoxification of infected grain pre- or post-harvest using a microorganism having the ability to degrade or detoxify moniliformin or a derivative or analog of moniliformin.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is based on the discovery of an organism having the ability to degrade the mycotoxin moniliformin. The present invention has resulted from a search for a biological means of detoxifying moniliformin and comprises a bacterial species, isolated from field-grown maize kernels, capable of growing on moniliformin as a sole carbon source, degrading it partially or completely in the process.

The practice of the present invention will employ, unless otherwise indicated, conventional techniques of botany, microbiology, tissue culture, molecular biology, chemistry, biochemistry and recombinant DNA technology, which are within the skill of the art. Such techniques are explained fully in the literature. See, e.g. J. H. Langenheim and K. V. Thimann, Botany: Plant Biology and Its Relation to Human Affairs (1982) John Wiley; Cell Culture and Somatic Cell Genetics of Plants, Vol. 1 (I. K. Vasil, ed. 1984); R. V. Stanier, J. L. Ingraham, M. L. Wheelis, and P. R. Painter, The Microbial World, (1986) 5th Ed., Prentice-Hall; O. D. Dhringra and J. B. Sinclair, Basic Plant Pathology Methods, (1985) CRC Press; Maniatis, Fritsch & Sambrook, Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual (1982); DNA Cloning, Vols. I and II (D. N. Glover ed. 1985); Oligonucleotide Synthesis (M. J. Gait ed. 1984); Nucleic Acid Hybridization (B. D. Hames & S. J. Higgins eds. 1984); the series in Methods in Enzymology (S. Colowick and N. Kaplan, eds., Academic Press, Inc.); and Current Protocols in Molecular Biology (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1996).

In describing the present invention, the following terms will be employed, and are intended to be defined as indicated below.

A microbe is defined as any microorganism (including both eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms) such as fungi, yeasts, bacteria, actinomycetes, algae and protozoa, as well as other unicellular structures capable of growth in culture.

A moniliformin-producing microbe is any microbe capable of producing the mycotoxin moniliformin or analogs thereof. Such microbes are generally members of the fungal genus Fusarium, as well as recombinantly derived organisms which have been genetically altered to enable them to produce moniliformin or analogues thereof.

By degrading moniliformin or having the ability to degrade moniliformin is meant any modification or ability to make any modification to the moniliformin molecule that causes a decrease in or loss of its toxic activity. Such a change can comprise cleavage of any of the various bonds, oxidation, reduction, the addition or deletion of a chemical moiety, or any other change that affects the activity of the molecule. Furthermore, chemically altered moniliformin may be isolated from cultures of microbes that produce an enzyme of this invention, such as by growing the organisms on media containing radioactively-labeled moniliformin, tracing the label, and isolating the degraded toxin for further study. The degraded moniliformin may be compared to the active compound for its toxicity in known sensitive species, such as brine shrimp (Artenia salina L.) (Logrieco, 1993).

By structurally related mycotoxin is meant any mycotoxin having a chemical structure related to a moniliformin or analog of moniliformin, as well as other mycotoxins having similar chemical structures that would be expected to be detoxified by activity of the moniliformin degradative enzymes.

Harvested grain is defined as any form of grain which has been somehow removed from the environment in which it was grown. For example, harvested grain may comprise ear corn, or corn kernels, for example. Harvested grain may further comprise that in storage or that being processed. Processed grain is grain that has been through some form of processing and will be used in the production of food for human consumption or will be used as animal feed ("feed grain").

Within this application, plant refers to a photosynthetic organism including but not limited to an algae, moss, fern, gymnosperm, or angiospenn. Preferably, said plant is one from which feed grain (preferably for human or animal consumption) may be harvested ("harvested grain"). Most preferably, said plant includes any variety of corn (maize), wheat, sorgum, rice and barley.

A mature plant is defined as a plant in which normal development of all vegetative and reproductive organs has occurred.

A plant cell includes any cell derived from a plant, including callus as well as protoplasts, and embryonic and gametic cells.

The present invention comprises a methodology for the isolation of a microorganism having the ability to degrade moniliformin and a methodology for degradation of moniliformin on a plant in the field as well as on harvested grain. Said microorganism may include but is not limited to bacteria and fungi. In order to isolate said microorganism having the ability to degrade moniliformin, an assay was developed in which said microorganism is initially isolated from a source material. Said source material may comprise any plant or plant-associated material including but not limited to any green tissue such as the stalk, leaf, ear, or kernel. Plant-associated material may include but is not limited to soil in close approximation to the plant. Said microorganism is then cultured in a media having moniliformin as the sole carbon source. The media is then monitored for the degradation of moniliformin by thin layer chromatography (TLC).

To test the ability of said microorganism isolated by the above-described methodology to degrade or detoxify moniliformin on plants, mature plants are inoculated with a moniliformin-producing organism and then treated with an appropriate amount of an organism having the ability to degrade moniliformin. The treatment may comprise application of a composition comprising an efficacious amount of an organism having the ability to degrade moniliformin to said plant whereby the moniliformin present is degraded. Preferably, said application consists of topically applying said composition upon the tissues of said plant, such that moniliformin upon said tissues is degraded. Alternatively, said plant or harvested grain may be treated with the said organism following harvest. Mature plants may be inoculated with a moniliformin-producing organism and harvested at an appropriate time.

Following harvest, said plant or harvested grain may be treated with an efficacious amount of said organism having the ability to degrade moniliformin. An important utility for the present invention is the detoxification of zearalenone present in grain following harvest. A suitable feed material or "sample" is spiked with a known amount of mycotoxin delivered in a suitable solvent, preferably ethanol, at an appropriate rate, preferably one ml solvent per gram, followed by sufficient mixing to distribute said mycotoxin throughout said material. A control sample receives solvent only. The final concentration of said mycotoxin is preferably between 0.1 and 1.0 mg per gram of feed material. The sample may then be air-dried to remove excess solvent. The sample is next innoculated with 10⁵ -10⁷ colony forming untis (cfu)/g of log-phase cells of a microorganism having the ability to degrade said mycotoxin, at a sufficient rate, preferably one ml cells per gram, followed by sufficient mixing to distribute said cells throughout said sample. A control sample may comprise cells that have been killed by heating, preferably to approximately 80° C. A control sample may further comprise cells of a microorganism that is not able to degrade said mycotoxin. Said sample is then placed into a container, said container is closed and incubated for a sufficient period of time at an appropriate temperature. Said period of time is preferably within the range of one day to two weeks and said temperature is preferably room temperature or approximately 28° C. Following incubation, the contents of said container are extracted in a suitable organic solvent (or organic aqueous mixture) for recovering said mycotoxin. The resulting extract is then concentrated and subjected to qualitative and quantitative analysis for the presence of said mycotoxin. The amount of said mycotoxin detected in said extract is then compared to the amount of said mycotoxin detected in said control sample, and the efficacy of removal of said mycotoxin expressed as a percent reduction in the level of said mycotoxin in said experimental extract as compared to the level of said mycotoxin in said control sample. In the instant invention, said mycotoxin is preferably moniliformin. This methodology allows for the degradation of moniliformin on or within said plants or harvested grain, thus providing improved food grain quality and feed safety.

This invention can be better understood by reference to the following non-limiting examples. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other embodiments of the invention may be practiced without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as herein disclosed and claimed.

EXAMPLE I. ISOLATION OF BACTERIA THAT DEGRADE MONILIFORMIN

Various sources of plant material that were likely to naturally contain moniliformin were collected as source material for screening. Fusarium graminearum-infested maize kernels (92 independent samples) were obtained from a Pioneer Hi-Bred Gibberella zeae (Fusarium graminearum) disease nursery.

The metabolism of moniliformin was measured using thin layer chromatography. Microbes were washed from the source material by placing a small amount in a seven milliliter Falcon tube and adding one to two milliliters sterile distilled water (producing "wash fluid"). Maize kernels were split with a razor blade and one to two kernels were used. Tubes were capped and shaken for one to three hours at room temperature. Moniliformin (Sigma Cat. No. M5269) was prepared as a solution in mineral salts medium, and was utilized as the sole carbon source. The moniliformin concentration utilized includes but is not limited to 0.75-1.0 milligrams/milliliter in mineral salts medium. The mineral salts medium was prepared by combination of reagents including but not limited to 1.0 g/L ammonium sulfate, 1.0 g/L sodium chloride, 1.0 g/L potassium phosphate, dibasic, 0.2 g/L magnesium sulfate. Sterilization of the solution was accomplished by filtration through a 0.2 micron filter, although various methods for sterilization are available to those skilled in the art. 100 microliters of moniliformin/mineral salts suspension medium was added to each well of a microtiter plate (96 well plate). One microliter of fresh wash fluid was added to each well. Control wells received one microliter of water. After two weeks, one microliter from each well was transferred to a new microtiter plate containing 100 microliters of moniliformin/mineral salts medium. Degradation of moniliformin was assayed by thin layer chromatography (TLC). Silica gel plates containing fluorescent indicator (Whatman 4410 222) were spotted with typically one microgram moniliformin (typically one microliter from assay plates or one microliter of a one miligram/milliliter standard solution). Plates were run using a solvent system of chloroform-ethyl alcohol 3:2. Monilifornin could be seen as a bright blue spot under short-wave UV. Microbial metabolism of moniliformin caused a gradual disappearance of the spot; spots with altered mobility in the TLC system were not detected using this method.

A pure culture of the microorganism responsible for moniliformin degradation was isolated. One microliter was taken from positive wells and added to one milliliter of sterile water. Several ten-fold dilutions were made in sterile water, and 100 microliters from each dilution were plated and spread on YDP agar plates. YDP agar plates were prepared by combination of 10 grams yeast extract (Difco), 20 g/L Bacto peptone, 0.5 g/L dextrose, 15 g/L Bacto agar in water followed by sterilization by autoclaving. From these mixture culture spread plates, individual colonies were streaked for isolation on new YDP plates. An effort was made to choose at least one of every type of bacteria represented on the spread plates. Each bacterium was used to make a dilute suspension in sterile water, and one microliter of this suspension was used to inoculate microtiter wells containing moniliformin in mineral salts as described above.

Initial characterization of bacteria was performed by Gram staining samples. More definitive identification was performed using a combination of techniques. Streak plates of individual bacterial colonies were sent to Microbe Inotech Laboratories, Inc. (St. Louis, Mo.) for tentative identification. The analysis included comparison of bacterial fatty acid methyl esters with Aerobe and Clinical Aerobe databases, and Biolog™ substrate utilization comparison with a Gram negative database. Results of such tests indicate that the bacterial isolate is the Gram negative Ochrobactrum anthropi and are demonstrated in Table I. These cultures have been deposited with the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC; 12301 Parklawn Drive, Rockville, Md. 20852 USA) on Oct. 15, 1996 in accordance with the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure.

                  TABLE 1                                                          ______________________________________                                         Microbial isolates having the ability to degrade moniliformin                    ATCC                                                                           Number Name Tentative Identification Source                                  ______________________________________                                         55846  MON2906.G1 Ochrobactrum anthropi                                                                         Moldy corn, from                                  (Chromobacter) Michigan                                                      55855 MON2906.E7 Ochrobactrum anthropi Moldy corn from                           (Chromobacter) Michigan                                                      55854 MON2906.B2 Ochrobactrum anthropi Moldy corn from                           (Chromobacter) Michigan                                                    ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE II. TREATMENT OF MONILIFORMIN-CONTAMINATED CORN

A. Treatment of contaminaten corn in the field

To test the ability of the bacteria isolated by the above-described methodology to degrade or detoxify moniliformin or its derivatives or analogs on maize, mature plants are inoculated with a moniliformin-producing Fusarium sp. and then treated with an appropriate amount of bacteria having the ability to degrade or detoxify moniliformin or its derivatives or analogs. The treatment consists of topically applying a composition comprising an efficacious amount of bacteria onto the tissues of the maize plant such that moniliformin, including any derivatives or analogs of moniliformin, is partially or completely degraded or detoxified.

B. Treatment of contaminated corn after harvest.

A one to ten gram sample of cracked corn is combined or "spiked" with a known amount of moniliformin in ethanol at a concentration of one gram moniliformin per ml of ethanol, followed by mixing to distribute the moniliformin throughout the mixture. A control sample or samples are mixed with solvent alone. The samples are then air-dried to remove excess solvent. The samples are then inoculated with 10⁶ cfu/g of log-phase cells of a microorganism having the ability to degrade moniliformin, designated MON2906.G1 (deposited with the ATCC under accession number ATCC 55846) at a rate of one ml cells per gram, and mixed well to distribute said cells within said sample. Controls are mixed with either cells of said microorganism [designated MON2906.G1, deposited with the ATCC under ATCC accession number 55846] that have been heated to 80° C., such that said cells are non-viable or with cells of a microorganism that does not have the ability to degrade moniliformin. Said mixture is placed in a container, which is then closed and incubated for two weeks at room temperature. At the end of the incubation period, the containers are opened, and the entire contents extracted in a suitable organic solvent to recover the moniliformin. The extract is concentrated and subjected to qualitative and quantitative analysis for detection of moniliformin. The amount of moniliformin is determined and compared to controls. The efficacy of removal of moniliformin is determined by comparison of the percent reduction of the amount of moniliformin in the sample comprising the micoorganism having the ability to degrade moniliformin to the reduction of the amount of moniliformin present in said control sample. Microorganisms designated MON2906.E7 (ATCC accession number 55855) and MON2906.B2 (ATCC accession number 55854) are also able to degrade moniliformin, and may be utilized for the above-described purpose.

While a preferred form of the invention has been shown in the drawings and described, since variations in the preferred form will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention should not be construed as limited to the specific form shown and described, but instead is as set forth in the claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of degrading moniliformin on a plant comprising topically applying to said plant a composition comprising a bacterium, wherein said bacterium is selected from the group consisting of a microorganism deposited under ATCC accession number 55846 and ATCC accession number
 55854. 2. A method of degrading moniliformin on a plant after harvest comprising topically applying to said plant a composition comprising a bacterium, wherein said bacterium is selected from the group consisting of a microorganism deposited under ATCC accession number 55846 and ATCC accession number
 55854. 3. A method of degrading moniliformin on harvested grain comprising topically applying a composition to said grain comprising a bacterium, wherein said bacterium is selected from the group consisting of a microorganism deposited under ATCC accession number 55846 and ATCC accession number
 55854. 